Foie gras (French for “fatty liver”) is the product of extreme animal cruelty. Factory farms produce it by force feeding ducks so much that their livers become diseased and enlarged. This causes a tremendous amount of suffering and can make it difficult for the birds to walk and breathe normally.

Few people would want to eat any part of a diseased animal, but in the case of foie gras, consumers eat the diseased organ itself.

Foie gras producers shove pipes down ducks’ throats to force feed them far more than they would ever eat. The force feeding can cause bruises, lacerations, and sores. The duck’s livers may grow to ten times the normal size.

Some foie gras factory farms cram birds into small, filthy cages where they can’t turn around or spread their wings.

More than a dozen countries have prohibited foie gras production. Wolfgang Puck doesn’t use foie gras, and many restaurants have removed it from their menus.

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Absent intervention by the United States Supreme Court, California’s landmark ban on force feeding ducks to produce foie gras will stay in effect. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has denied another request by a handful of foie gras proponents to reconsider the law.

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